Polar Ursine Maternal Figure Takes In Youngster in Rarely Documented Instance

Researchers monitoring wild polar bears in northern Canada observed something exceedingly rare this fall: a female bear taking in a cub that was not biologically her own.

The half-decade-old mother and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were observed and captured on camera during the yearly polar bear migration along the Western Hudson Bay near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," stated a scientist with an international bear organization. "We don't really know why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

This represents only the 13th known case of adoption out of nearly five thousand bears researched for nearly five decades in that region.

The female bear was initially tagged as she emerged from her birthing den this spring. At the time, she had a single offspring, which scientists marked for research.

In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the original cub and a second without a tag. Researchers are uncertain what happened to the second cub's biological mother, but they are attempting to locate her using genetic samples.

"The bears need all the help they can get in the current era with climate change," noted a polar bear scientist. "When mother bears have the chance to take in an additional youngster and raise it and see it to independence, it's a positive development for the population."

Polar bears in the wild only have a 50% chance of living into maturity, but having a mother caring for them improves their chances.

The young bears are reported as healthy, according to experts, and they will probably stay with their mother until they are about 30 months of age.

Following this, the family is expected to head out to sea ice, where the youngsters will be taught from their mother how to catch prey and survive on their own.

"It's just nice to know that the bears are looking out for each other," added the researcher.